A SICK note culture has resulted in Bridgend Council staff taking a total of almost 55,000, days off sick last year – an equivalent to 150 years.

A Freedom of Information request revealed figures from all of the local authorities in South Wales – except for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council – which show council staff working for BCBC took days off sick most frequently, with a total of 54,720.11 days off work being taken for health reasons in 2010.

The most common reason for sickness was due to mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression, which accounted for workers taking a staggering 12,491.10 days off – an equivalent of more than 34 years.

Viral infections was another common cause of sick days, responsible for 7,396.16 daily absences.

A BCBC spokesman said it took the health and wellbeing of its employees very seriously and a great deal of work to improve the statistics had been done over the last three years.

The spokesman added that figures approved by the Welsh Audit Office revealed that in 2009-10, the authority was slightly above the Welsh national average at 11.4, but the number of days lost to sickness absence since then has already decreased to 8.9.

“A recent health and wellbeing audit has been completed which is helping the authority identify areas where it can help and support staff on a wide range of issues,” he said.

“We hold regular health promotion events which generate greater awareness around important issues such as smoking or taking regular exercise.”

He said BCBC was a recent runner-up for the category of Best Workplace Activity in the UK No Smoking Day awards, and we were also awarded a Bronze Corporate Health Standard from the Welsh Assembly Government for workplace health promotion. He said they are currently preparing to apply for the Silver category of the award.

He added that the council also holds an Excellence Wales award for a projects that reduce health inequalities and said services singled out for praise included the Access to Leisure Scheme and Healthworks programme.”